


more than we usually get to have

by faintingviolet



Series: Buddiemas 2020 Prompts [7]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: 12 Days of Buddiemas (9-1-1 TV), A smidge of Angst if you squint, Buck's not, Christmas Fluff, Eddie's worried, Established Relationship, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Missed holidays, travel prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:55:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28183518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faintingviolet/pseuds/faintingviolet
Summary: It had been an unspoken agreement between them that Christmases were spent together, at home. Eddie and Buck had each missed plenty of Christmases over the years but once they had made their way to the 118 and to each other Christmases went back to being something they took the time to enjoy, even on the years they had to work the day itself. It was a system that worked, that ensured they were able to celebrate the way they wanted to, and everything went smoothly until the year Isabel announced they were going to Texas for Christmas.or, Eddie freaks out about changing their plans and Buck reassures him.(December 17- Travel)
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Buddiemas 2020 Prompts [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2057301
Comments: 1
Kudos: 88
Collections: Buddiemas 2020





	more than we usually get to have

It had been an unspoken agreement between them that Christmases were spent together, at home.

Eddie and Buck had each missed plenty of Christmases over the years but once they had made their way to the 118 and to each other Christmases went back to being something they took the time to enjoy, even on the years they had to work the day itself.

For years then they celebrated the holiday in some version of their normal. Unless they were working, it was Christmas Eve with Isabel and Pepa, Christmas Lunch with Maddie and Chim, and Christmas Dinner just them – and for Christopher presents at each stop along the way. On the years they had to work they found ways to move those three commitments around during the days immediately surrounding the holiday balanced with whatever party Athena and Bobby were likely to throw. On the years they were working Buck continued the tradition of getting their families to come to the firehouse for a meal so that there was a special tradition for even that eventuality.

It was a system that worked, that ensured they were able to celebrate the way they wanted to, and everything went smoothly until the year Isabel announced they were going to Texas for Christmas.

Eddie was dumbfounded. He had no idea his grandmother had been squirreling away money to buy the four plane tickets for apparently years. His parents and sisters had each been able to make it out to California for holidays in the past, but getting himself and Christopher, and later Buck, to Texas just hadn’t come together. Apparently, his grandmother deemed herself the person to fix that problem. But Eddie worried: this would make Buck miss some of their holiday traditions. Eddie had promised himself when he uprooted his and Christopher’s lives to California that he would stop missing things, he would invest in what he could make happen. His years in the Army meant holidays away from home and in the years immediately after his return he worked more hours than he was home for. He had missed a lot. In the years since he had extended that promise to Buck – they would do everything in their power not to miss things. But this trip would mean that Buck would miss Christmas with Maddie, Chim, and his nephew and Eddie couldn’t figure out how to prevent that from happening.

So, he stared at Buck across Abuela’s kitchen table and tried to figure out what to say.

Buck, as usual, beat him to it.

“Abuela, that’s amazingly generous. Of course we want to come with you.”

Eddie just stared at his partner. The answer was genuine, he wasn’t pretending for Abuela’s sake, or Christopher’s. He knew him well enough to know when he was doing that.

Christopher was rattling off all the things he wanted to do when they were in Texas. Eddie should probably be listening, but his mind wouldn’t stop chewing on what traveling would make them miss.

“But what about Maddie?”

Buck turned from Christopher to look Eddie in the eyes, surprise coloring his features. “What about Maddie, Eds?”

“Won’t you be upset to not be with your family on Christmas?”

“I’ll be with my family, Eds. We’ll be in Texas. The three of us,” Isabel pokes his side, “the four of us.”

“You know what I mean.”

Buck takes a second, truly noticing the worry lines that have crept up between Eddie’s eyebrows, realization dawning.

“Its okay Eddie. I promise.”

For his part while he had been traveling Buck had avoided the traditional trappings of the holiday, and when he first moved to California there hadn’t been people for Buck to share the holiday with, so he had continued to push it all aside. Then he joined the 118, Maddie moved to L.A., and Eddie and Christopher made their ways into his life and Christmas had a new place in his heart.

Buck knew he had a reputation for being a bit Christmas obsessed, which to his mind wasn’t fair as Eddie was the one _doing_ all the Christmas things. But Buck had been the one to start the family dinner tradition when their 118 family had to work Christmas Day, he had been the one to push it when Maddie didn’t want to decorate for Christmas when she first came to L.A., and he was the one who had pouted about it all around the firehouse.

But the important part of that reputation is that it really came from all the years he wasn’t able to celebrate Christmas, all the years before that when he was surrounded by a Christmas he didn’t want to be at, one that was missing the people he most wanted to celebrate with. He loved Christmas now because it was all the things that those holidays had not been. He also knew that Eddie knew him well enough, loved him deeply enough, to know that. Which is why he was looking at him with such worry and concern after being offered such a wonderful gift from Isabel, and the ability to be with his parents and sisters and their families for Christmas.

When the first opportunity presented itself, Buck did his best to reassure Eddie. Buck grabbed Eddie’s arm while they were clearing the table after dinner and pulled him around the corner so that no one else would hear their conversation.

“It is okay Eddie. In fact, its more than okay. I’m looking forward to it. Stop worrying.”

“But you have to miss Buckley Christmas.”

“No, we don’t. We’ll talk to Maddie and figure it out. We’ll celebrate with them, and then we’ll go to Texas with Abuela and be with the rest of the family.”

“But…”

“No Eddie. I promise, everything is fine. I’m sure the Lees would be ecstatic to be able to have Maddie and them for the whole day on Christmas. We’ll facetime. Don’t you want to go?”

“I do. But I don’t want to miss anything either.”

“We won’t be, we’ll be getting more than we usually get to have.”

Buck watched as acceptance, and gradually excitement, creeped onto Eddie’s face.

“Oh, don’t get too excited Edmundo, don’t forget you just agreed to fly, at Christmas, with me, your son, and your grandmother. I don’t think you remember just how terrible airports are at the holidays.”

Buck walked away laughing as Eddie’s jaw dropped. Being together was wonderful, traveling was terrible, and Buck loved nothing quite the same way as busting Eddie’s chops.

**Author's Note:**

> a slightly different version of the prompt. 
> 
> Comments and kudos always appreciated!


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